Guns Up for T-Tech, New Unis for SCar, Vols & Nevada too

By Phil Hecken, on August 5th, 2013

By Phil Hecken

There was lots of action on the College Football uniform front over the weekend, leading up to the start of the NCAAFB season in a mere few weeks. Webmaster John Ekdahl covered some of these a bit in yesterday’s post, but owing to the fact that readership is lower on the weekends than the weekdays, many of you may have missed them.

The Red Raiders, as is common, put out a uniform reveal video (which is thankfully not soundtracked with Imagine Dragons’ Radioactive) but which does play up the “Guns” up (and even includes the sounds of a cocking gun and pistol shot at the end).

Compared to their past uniforms, I actually don’t mind these too much (assuming they stick to just one helmet and two different tops). The fonts are legible, and the “guns up” striping on the shoulders is unique without being too obnoxious. There is still plenty of red on the white jersey, and a decent amount on the striping. The black helmet has the classic “T/T” logo, and isn’t chrome or matte. The red stripe becomes white near the helmet base,” which isn’t a bad feature (although they could scrub the “Guns Up” writing from the helmet IMHO).

For Under Armour, this is not a bad reprisal of a uniform that had not won great praise in the past. If you haven’t seen enough already, there is a gallery with over 100 photos for you to take in.

. . .

South Carolina Gamecocks:

Like the Red Raiders, the Gamecocks (also sponsored by Under Armour) appear to have only two sets of pants and jerseys (garnet and white — their official colors are garnet and black). According to UA, they sought to make this uniform set “something timeless that fits in with the power and tradition of SEC Football and linked specifically to South Carolina.” Also, like the Raiders, the Gamecocks had several sets of uniform combinations (and a couple special uniforms in the past that were um, different), preferring to start 2013 more simply.

There doesn’t seem to be a video of the unveiling, but there is a slideshow, which you can see here:

As with Texas Tech, I believe these new uniforms are an improvement (and certainly a more “classic” look). The shoulder stripes are muted and certainly a departure from the past’s wide, oddly angled stripes. And while I don’t mind stripeless pants, I didn’t fancy the sorta striped britches sported in the past. And no references to firearms on the uniforms is always a plus.

. . .

Tennessee Volunteers:

Not a real big reveal came from Tennessee this weekend, and the changes were pretty much expected, thanks to earlier video game leaks. Still, we did get our first look at the new uniforms, and we see that the typical adidas “treadmarks,” a ubiquitous feature this season, are present on the shoulders and the back of the jersey does have the state outline:

Nothing too extraordinary (again, that was to be expected) and other than the treadmarks, I like. Here’s a look at the full uni. You’ll note from those photos that there appears to be two different baselayers (an orange and a white), both of which feature the checkerboard pattern (which is a staple of the Tennessee endzone. There is supposedly a “faint checkerboard design” in the numbers of the road jerseys (which haven’t yet been revealed — or at least which I haven’t seen).

The last of the “big” reveals is the Wolf Pack of Nevada, who as you can see, will have several new uniforms, and two helmets. The white helmet is new, while the blue helmet is a holdover from previous seasons. Nevada has never really had much of a consistent uniform identity over the past several years, so maybe these will have some staying power.

The addition of the gray uniform and white helmet will certainly provide the ‘pack with some different options:

There are now 3 different jerseys, two different pants (white and gray) and two helmets, providing a likelihood the Wolf Pack won’t have to wear any given combination twice (although it might get tricky if they have to wear the white jersey only on the road). Compared to past years sets, this is certainly an improvement, although it appears (in this photo) that the “1” is thicker than the “2” (is that on purpose, a mistake, or just a trick of the photo?) and I can’t say I’m a fan of the claw mark stripes on the pants. Still, a definite upgrade.

We’ve seen these alternate Nebraska uniforms before (they’ll wear them against UCLA on September 14), but this is the first time seeing them in the “light of day” as it were. If that photo isn’t big enough, here’s a real high def look. I’ll withhold comment (further) until I see them in action, but as they stand now, I’m not a fan. But the kids love black (and what’s with the pseudo-military font?), and I’m sure the players can’t wait, so maybe they’ll be a hit. (Big h/t to Warren Junium for the photo).

. . .

I think that’s it for the new uni unveilings this past few days. If I missed any, my apologies.

Well readers…that was a lot to digest — what do YOU think?

Now THAT looks like a South Florida Team!

The NFL Hall of Fame Game was played yesterday, the first “official pre-season” game of the 2013 season, and we got our first looks at the Miami Dolphins new uniforms.

Their opponents, the Dallas Cowboys, looked the same (good) as always.

But it was those new helmets, pants and different-shade-of-aqua jerseys for the Dolphins that we wanted to see.

Lets take a look, shall we? (click on any photo to enlarge):

Looks pretty good, right? Yes, there is still some getting used to with the new helmet (with the new dolphin logo) and some of you don’t like the fatter helmet stripe (and corresponding matching stripe on the pants). The new fonts leave a little to be desired, as well. But chalk me up as a fan.

And one more, for good measure (and check out what looks like a mouthguard in QB Ryan Tannehill’s sock!):

I like the color, I don’t particularly dislike the new dolphin logo, the stripes may be fat, but they’re actual stripes, and I even like the new wordmark on the jerseys. My one complaint would be the new fonts, but compared to those of the Vikings and Jaguars, these are fine. Yes, it will take some time to get used to the new look, but from what I’ve seen so far, this one is a keeper.

On Saturday evening, as part of the “¡Fiesta Tigres!” celebration, which honored the contributions of Hispanic and Latino players in baseball, the Tigers wore a special jersey with the word “Tigres” and each player’s individual number on the front of their jersey (they don’t normally wear a front uniform number).

Click the photos below to enlarge:

Aside from the script “Tigres” and the number on front, and the “headspoon” piping, the uniforms were identical to their normal home uniforms. Although it was odd to see the script “Tigres” on the front of their jerseys (we’ve grown so accustomed to their iconic Olde English “D”), this uniform actually bears a very strong resemblance to the one-year experiment the Tigers undertook in 1960, when they departed from their OE “D” and wore “Tigers” in script. The 1960 unis appeared to have a larger (and seemingly thinner) front uniform number:

As you’ll note, those 1960 uniforms also had front uniform numbers (and lack of placket striping). While it’s a very good looking uniform, clearly the one with the OE “D” is much more distinctive, so it’s easy to see why the Tigers (of 1961) went back to that look. And since Detroit has absolutely NO alternate uniforms, it will be curious to see what the fan reaction to these jerseys will be (and they won the game, beating the White Sox 3-0 behind the 16th win of the season for Max Scherzer). Several teams now include two “white” (or cream) home uniforms (Mets, Braves, Cardinals, Phillies, to name a few) that it’s possible this might be added next season. I’m hoping not, but they could do a lot worse.

What do you guys think?

Uni Watch News Ticker: Reader “fightingducksluh” (Joe) took a tour of White Sox stadium the other day and noticed: 1. Look at these stirrups; 2. all the logos the White Sox have used during their franchise history. (he thinks); and 3. Has any other stadium put up a sign where an important play has happened like in Chicago with “The Catch”? … Last week, Ethan Kassel sent me the poster at the Oakland Coliseum’s West Side Club that illustrated the evolution of the elephant logo. Well, check out what he found on the souvenir cups! … Check out the socks in the splash photo of this article on player/helmet safety (thanks to Tommy Turner). … Good spot from Mike Macksood, who noticed that on NFL.com they have a mistake NOB for one of the Bengals LB’s. His last name is Lamur, most certainly not “Lumar.” … And a good spot by Scott Nebel who the Vikings this year during training camp are wearing their ‘old’ style pants, as seen here being worn by Greg Jennings, which he thinks is odd because from 2006-2012 they sometimes wore ‘throwback’ style pants during training camp, as seen in this photo from either 2011 or 2012. … New Mexico basketball will be wearing special unis for their Australian tour Aug. 2-13, says Frank Mercogliano. Note the Southern Cross on the pants. … Our friends over at Lob Shots know the Uni Watch readers love logos…and love to make their own. They would love to throw them in the mix with this new logo contest they’re having (big thanks to Brady Phelps). … Nebraska had Fan Day Friday and it looks like incoming Freshman QB Johnny Stanton will have RNOB (h/t to David Westfall). … In a somewhat related story, the ‘Skins now have two RGIIIs, only Rex Grossman won’t be going RNOB … Interesting Coke display At Wal-Mart in Hurricane, WV. Supporting the Hurricane High Redskins (thanks to Coleman Mullins). … Here’s a pretty cool duct tape receipt holder made by the wife of Jeff Moddelmog a couple years ago. Explains Jeff, “I’m early 70’s Nuggets fan so we went original Nuggets logo.” … Here’s a great spot by SW Small — The New York Liberty misspelled Natalie Prahalis’ name on her jersey. So, they filled in the extra “a” so it would at least appear to spelled correctly. … This is very cool: Barcelona kit for Santos match to feature unique lettering created by artist with Down Syndrome (thanks to Tim Fry). … Weird story out of Nebraska – but after viewing the picture at the bottom, Jason Johnson thinks the person who made the decision to wear those jerseys should have been arrested. … Brian Crago was stuck in traffic in Chicago and noticed the SUV’s personalized license plate, “HAWKS N 6″, no doubt a nod to the 2010 Stanley Cup champs who clinched in six games. Since the Hawks won the Cup again this year, again in 6 games, the person had in stenciled letters “IN 6 2WICE” off to the side. … The A’s introduced their “Hall of Famer Run” on Aug 2 featuring characters of Rollie Fingers (wearing the A’s uni from 72-81), Rickey Henderson (uni from 83-86), and Dennis Eckersley (87-current uni). Henderson’s character however is wearing number 24 on the early 80s uni which he did not wear until rejoining the A’s in 1989. He wore number 35 for the A’s 1979-85 (big thanks to Rich Paloma. … Non-uni submission from Brinke: Looks like Caddy will get a new logo soon. … What’s the story behind this great old photograph? As UW uniform historian Terry Proctor explains, “A new website about the history of the Western Finger Lakes area that my family has lived in for over 200 years now has some high school sports information. My hometown of Hemlock won the girls sectional basketball championship in the 1930-31 season and the boys were the first team in the Rochester area to “three-peat” when they won the Class “C” sectionals in 1935, 1936 and 1937. The boys were 39-4 during their three-year run. Hemlock High School merged with Livonia Central School in 1958 and that’s where I attended from seventh grade through high school.” Terry explains that “the school colors were (sorry, Paul) Purple and Gold but were later changed to Royal & Gold.” As more information becomes available, Terry & co. will be adding it to the website. … Seems as though Jeremy Affeldt has some jersey number kerning issues going on. The 4 is centered under his name, and then the 1 got squeezed in there on the right, leaving the left side under the name wide open (nice spot by Ed Lafayette). … If you thought the Stillers were done with the Bumblebee throwbacks, you’d be wrong — they’ll break them out on November 17th (thanks, Brinke). … “Just wanted to send along this image from 2013 Topps Archives Baseball” says a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. “It’s a ‘Box-topper’ of Lou Brock. So much uni-goodness in this photo.” So much uni-goodness indeed, including both a soft and hard “pillbox” cap/helmet!… And speaking of baseball cards, did you know Paul Lukas is referenced on the back of one? How cool is that … Jerry Kulig grabbed this shot of Jonathan Ogden, with FullNOB. “I don’t remember the FNOB,” asks Jerry. “Was there another Ogden on the Ravens?” … Recently the Liverpool Football Club played the Melbourne Victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during their Australian pre-season tour. As this photo indicates, a huge Liverpool jersey was located next to the pitch (thanks to Graham Clayton). … A link to the Buffalo Bills online store shows the new collar isn’t the same one that EJ Manuel had on draft day, notes John Pascucci. “It has a thick, dark stripe on top (ala the outline on the numbers and shoulder stripes).” … Nice pickup by Mako Mameli at a recent Raiders practice: when the Raiders started training camp it was offense in white and defense in black. Then on July, 29 the offense took the practice field donning silver jerseys. Coach Allen said the silver jerseys were an award for outplaying the defense in a recent practice. Works both ways — defense gets silver jerseys when they outplay the offense, who have to wear black. … Good spot by first-time submitter Kenneth Curtis (welcome aboard!), who notes that NFL.com has the wrong helmet for the Miami Dolphins in its graphic for the HOF game. … Interesting observation as Auburn opened up preseason practice on Friday, 8/1. QB Nick Marshall’s (L) helmet label was misspelled as “Marshell” (nice spot by Brian Powers. … We’ve known since June that at least 5 NBA teams will wear short-sleeved jerseys as “alts” this year, but new news (at least to me) is that 20 NBA squads will wear a short-sleeve uniform at least once. In a related story, could the Lakers be one of those teams to get a short-sleeved alt? … Tom Klipsch was watching the International champions cup & noticed all the teams have to wear this Adidas Fly Emirates sponsored “basketball” jersey over the team shirt. Says Tom, “Apparently Even the Teams sponsored by both Adidas & Fly Emirates. Seems overly redundant. I have noticed this trend in International soccer lately. Players on the bench covered in Sponsor covered smocks.” … We also have a bunch of uniform news from Down Under (courtesy of Leo Strawn): The AFL’s Essendon Bombers are asking indigenous supporters to design a jumper for the 2014 season. The jumper will be worn during the annual “Dreamtime at the ‘G” match v. Richmond during the league’s indigenous round. (Richmond Tigers have worn a different indigenous design in that match each year for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons. Adelaide (altering their jumper colors to reflect traditional aboriginal colors) and Fremantle wore new designs for ’13 indigenous round, and Port Adelaide wore a special indigenous design for the next round in 2013 (while playing in the Northern Territory), and earlier in the season St. Kilda wore a special Maori design jumper when they played a home match in round 5 in New Zealand.
It’s likely that many more AFL clubs will be wearing special indigenous jumpers for the indigenous round and other special matches in the future,” says Leo. … There is going “full stormtrooper”, and then there is going plain stormtrooper as the Nashville Sounds did on Saturday night (with thanks to Joe Sewash). … After revealing itty-bits of their uniforms for the past several weeks (months?) the Suns will finally reveal their new uniforms during a “Fashion Show” on August 15. I’m sure we’re all waiting with bated breath. … The College of Charleston has a new logo and branding (thanks to Britton Thomas). … Check out the on Saturday night’s Shark-a-rine giveaway (h/t R. Scott Rogers @rscottrogers). … The Tri-City Valley Cats busted out the high hose to try to “break the funk” (h/t to Sully @pal3327). More from Sully: Toledo Baseball History Weekend kicked off at the @MudHens with Jim Thorpe Bobblehead Night. … Alex Allen (@aallen65) lets us know there are New football jerseys for @hhseaglessports (I am not sure whether he’s talking about Heritage High School or Hobbs High School, both of whom are the Eagles — there could even be more — so my apologies!). … David Carusofound this video he thought we would enjoy. “The uniforms are nifty but to me the coolest parts of the video are the bags (which look like pillows compared to what the are now) and how awesome and stereotypically old-timey the announcer’s voice is,” says David. … And, finally (finally!) David Hutchinson sends two hockey mask bits: (1) Lehtonen’s latest…fun story, painted by an old teammate and the first mask for the new Dallas uniforms; and (2) Brodeur has a new mask that looks very similar to last year’s – but he has added his two bulldogs on it – names Stanley and Vezina! RIP Art.

And that, dear readers, brings us to a close on this fine first Monday in the month of August. Thanks to all the ticker contributors and twitter feeders. Couldn’t do this without you. Everyone have as good a summer Monday as you possibly can.

The white mask does sorta give them a bit of a WLAF look… but I kinda like it. The number font is a bit wonky, and the orange isn’t as prominent as it probably should be… but overall they don’t look bad. They definitely look like a Miami team, they just don’t quite look like the Dolphins… yet. If they actually keep this uniform for more than a few years, I think it could become a classic.

DenverGregg|
August 5, 2013 at 9:13 am |

So give ’em an orange facemask and make the numbers orange with white trim as quick fixes?

terriblehuman|
August 5, 2013 at 9:55 am |

So give ‘em an orange facemask and make the numbers orange with white trim as quick fixes?

Gah!

DJ|
August 5, 2013 at 9:58 am |

I thought I read here when the uniforms were unveiled that the Dolphins are considering white as their primary color. If so, it explains why they went for a white helmet with a white face mask. In all, it produces a very clean look that’s distinctive.

I think the quick fix would be an aqua facemask, and simply swapping the orange and blue. Every part of the uniform that’s currently blue becomes orange and vice versa.

arrScott|
August 5, 2013 at 10:30 am |

Swapping the navy and the orange might help. But I think more than anything the problem is in proportions. The navy is so dark, and the orange so light, that a stripe of each with identical widths gives the navy much more visual impact, and the orange, much less. So either wider orange stripes, or relocate the navy (a navy centerline stripe, including on the numbers, Blue Jays style, would also be well within the Miami aesthetic they’re going for), or give the orange stripe and number outlines a scalloped edge, like the sun ring in the logo. Any of those would give the orange the slightly greater visual weight it needs. Right now, you basically don’t see the orange at all.

Other than that, the new Dolphins duds are a very nicely designed uniform. Gonna take some getting used to, but pretty much all of the details that I usually complain about teams getting wrong, the Dolphins got right.

Like the Dolphins OK I guess. No reference of the lame M I A M I across the backside?

Eli|
August 5, 2013 at 12:57 pm |

My friend (a Dolphins fan) pointed out to me the M-I-A-M-I on the pants during the game yesterday. To which my 9 yr old asked “Dad, what’s a ‘tramp stamp’?” Thanks Miami. That’s exactly what I wanted to discuss during the first game of the season….thanks a lot….

Regarding the sponsored “basketball jerseys” in soccer – all subs in the bench area are required to wear something identifying them as a sub, and typically this is a sleeveless jersey. I don’t know why it had to be sponsored, but the players in the bench area were required by rule to wear the sleeveless jerseys.

I can’t say how much of a trend the sponsoring of the sleeveless jerseys/smocks is, since I don’t pay that much attention to that, but the rule has required bench players to wear them (sponsor or no sponsor) for quite a while, so it’s not as much of a trend as Tom thinks.

DJ|
August 5, 2013 at 10:02 am |

Yes, during the World Cup, you’ll see the subs wear bibs emblazoned with “FIFA.” I could imagine them also wearing some sort of FIFA-sponsored charity message, or their anti-racism slogan (but not a corporate sponsorship; if you chose one, their others would get pissed).

terriblehuman|
August 5, 2013 at 10:43 am |

Right – pics of bench areas in the Champions League and Confederations Cup – they help the refs distinguish between players on the field, eligible subs and the technical staff/ineligible players.

Yep. This is traditionally done in all levels, not just professionally.

Now…not all get sponsored “bibs” or “pinnies.”

Kyle|
August 5, 2013 at 8:00 am |

Weird and nice seeing all the leg pads last night.

Rob H|
August 5, 2013 at 8:06 am |

Yep, there was another J. Ogden on the ’02 Ravens, more specifically WR/PR Jeff Ogden #87 who only played in one game for Baltimore, returning two punts, in that 9/15/02 game against the to-be Super Bowl champion Bucs that the “Jon Ogden” NOB screenshot is from. He played 98-99 with Dallas, and 00-01 with Miami, and this cup of coffee with the Ravens was his last appearance in the NFL. I assume Jonathan Ogden only wore that NOB for that game.

That’s not even the only marking at the Cell; Paul Konerko’s World Series grand slam and Scott Podsednik’s World Series walk-off HR are both commemorated with blue seats.

Dane|
August 5, 2013 at 8:41 am |

Willie Stargell had plenty of seat markings, none of which are still in existence:

Four seats in Three Rivers where his four upper-deck (600 level) home runs landed.
A Stargell Star for the longest home run at the Vet in Philly: http://m.cdn.blog.hu...
A gold seat in Montreal for the longest home run hit in Olympic Stadium.

Apparently, there was also a marker for the longest home run hit in Three Rivers, by Frank Thomas during the 1994 HR Derby.

BurghFan|
August 5, 2013 at 8:46 am |

All the upper deck home runs at Three Rivers were marked (something like 13, 5 of which were Stargell’s), and there was a star on the facade of the upper deck where Thomas hit his homer during the Derby.

Jason M (DC)|
August 5, 2013 at 8:54 am |

How is this even a question?

Doesn’t Mall of America still have Killebrew’s red seat mounted on a wall? That’s a stadium marker even after the stadium was torn down.

And as the article mentions, the seat is bolted to the wall, and there is a plaque on the floor that marks where home plate was.

If I remember correctly though, some of the “I’m still calling it Camp Snoopy” rides block the view between the home plate plaque and the red seat.

Chris Hilf|
August 5, 2013 at 9:32 am |

In Oakland where Forbes Field was there is a brick path that follows the path where the outfield wall was. There is a brass plate on the ground that marks where Maz hit the home run that won the 1960 world series over the Yankees.

Home plate is also inside Posvar Hall under glass in the lobby. It’s slightly off though, as its actual placement would have put it in the men’s room.

Oakland is the neighborhood in Pittsburgh where Forbes Field was located. Home of the University of Pittsburgh. You can see Pitt’s Cathedral of Learning (the tower) in the background of some old pics of Forbes Field.

DJ|
August 5, 2013 at 1:24 pm |

Yes, the Oakland area of Pittsburgh. It’s why the student section at Pitt Panther sporting events is called “the Oakland Zoo.”

DenverGregg|
August 5, 2013 at 3:07 pm |

By that reasoning, (I’m still calling it) Mile High Stadium is in Sun Valley. National audiences don’t necessarily pick up all the local references, particularly when a name has a more prominent meaning.

Mainspark|
August 5, 2013 at 9:46 am |

I recall the Astros putting stars on seats in the upper deck of the Astodome where Jimmy Wynn and Doug Rader hit a couple of moonshots.

Keith|
August 5, 2013 at 10:37 am |

Camden Yards has 2 orange seats:

“One (located at Section 96, Row D, Seat 23 in the right-center field bleachers) commemorates the spot where Eddie Murray’s 500th home run landed. The other (Section 86, Row FF, Seat 10 in the left-field bleachers) was the landing spot for Cal Ripken’s 278th home run as a shortstop, breaking Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks’s record for the position.”

Jet|
August 5, 2013 at 11:38 am |

Wasn’t there a spot in Shea’s upper deck where Tommie Agee hit a home run? You should know that, Paul.

-Jet

Brian D.|
August 5, 2013 at 8:27 am |

The old Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta had a sign where Hank Aaron’s 715th HR hit the wall behind the playin wall (it didn’ reach the bleachers). They still havehe spot in place too:

Also, looking at those Raiders practice pictures, they really need to darken the silver a bit. Some of those shots look almost like the team is in mono-white.

Ronnie Poore|
August 5, 2013 at 9:51 am |

i’m digging the all silver. it would be better as a shinier silver…but that would be a great road uni. no white at all, just silver and black, baby.

mmwatkin|
August 5, 2013 at 8:32 am |

Feedback from Tigers fans has been mostly positive. A lot of people have been quick to point out that it is very similar to the ’60 uniform.

Basically, people liked to look of the uniform but acknowledged that the regular Olde English D uniform is superior.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers ran this out there on Fiesta Tigres night to get fan reaction for a regular alternate.

I hope that isn’t the case, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

arrScott|
August 5, 2013 at 10:20 am |

Man, I hope not. As a one-off, I love it. (I love pretty much all jerseys that translate the name into a foreign language.) Preferable to the one-off crap the Tigers have joined the rest of the league in doing on Memorial Day and July 4 the last few years, and on a par with the excellent Negro Leagues throwbacks the Tigers sometimes wear. But even more than the Yankees, the Tigers should stick to their alt-free uniform identity.

Daniel|
August 5, 2013 at 8:42 am |

Soccer players that are on the reserve bench and eligible to come into the match are wearing the colored bibs. Its very common worldwide including organized youth leagues.

George Chilvers|
August 5, 2013 at 2:27 pm |

Usually they just wear their tracksuits on the bench, but when they warm up at the side of the pitch they wear distinguishing bibs,mainly so their own team don’t think they are a player on the pitch and pass to them.

Uh.. right. until someone goes on a shooting spree on the Texas Tech campus. The reason schools were able to get away with the “violent imagery for decades” is that the occurrence of actual violence was far more rare.
How would this play if Texas Tech ended up playing Virginia Tech in a bowl game?

It’s still a rare occurrence. We just hear about it quicker today because of the internet and social media. Jesus fucking Christ, it isn’t like college campuses are getting shot up every day or something. If Texas Tech gets to play VT in a bowl game with their Guns Up slogan, no one with half a brain would give a shit. Pick a random spot on the planet that isn’t in the ocean or on Antarctica, and chances are someone died there at some point in time.

arrScott|
August 5, 2013 at 12:45 pm |

I’m sympathetic to objections to gratuitous violent imagery, but in fact violent crime has grown less common, not more, in the last four decades. The real problem is not that gun crimes happen, it’s that athletes seem increasingly likely to be involved in violence and criminal behavior. I mean, the Wizards will never become the Bullets again, and this has nothing to do with the incidence of gun violence in Our Nation’s Capital; it has everything to do with Gilbert Arenas bringing guns into the team’s locker room.

So there’s nothing wrong with “Guns Up!” – until a Tech fullback shoots his girlfriend.

Mike|
August 5, 2013 at 1:06 pm |

TheJeff, right. Those with half a brain won’t give a shit, but those with a whole brain just might. Take a look at this list.. there have already been 6 school shootings this year alone, and 32 since 2010.

So… what? Should sports teams stop using the names/imagery because of a few random events? Should all teams be named for animals or something? Hell, even the animal teams are named for predators – Eagles, Falcons, Lions, Tigers, etc. Humans kill each other. Yeah, we kinda suck as a species, but it is what it is. Innocent people are going to die this year, and it doesn’t matter if Texas Tech’s pants say “guns up” or “sparkle unicorns”.

Mike|
August 5, 2013 at 12:42 pm |

And, until someone in Minnesota goes on an axe – or longsword murdering spree with a wooden shield and horned helmet, the Vikings “imagery” isn’t going to bother anybody.

arrScott, might want to reconsider your facts. Please take a look at this list and let us know if school shootings have increased or decreased over time.http://en.wikipedia....
I happen to have been present in one of these cases in 1993.
It’s not something that should be taken so lightly.

arrScott|
August 5, 2013 at 5:15 pm |

Mike, mass-casualty shootings may be more common than they were in the past*, but the simple fact is that violent crime has become much less common, both in absolute numbers and in per-capita terms, in recent decades. I’m terribly sorry for your experience, but I referred to “violent crime” being significantly down, and it is.

*The mass-casualty thing only appears to be increasing if you doctor the data by not going back far enough. Since the 1830s, American history has regular waves of mass-casualty violence, from slave-rebellion panics and massacres through anti-union violence to the anarchist movement to waves of lynchings to Prohibition-era mob violence and on up to the modern day. When I was a kid, workplace shootings were common, but nobody shot up schools. Thirty years later, nobody shoots up post offices, but school massacres are all too common. Depending on how you count things – casualties versus events, numbers versus per capita incidence – most past waves of mass-casualty violence are worse than the school shootings of the last two decades.

Mike|
August 5, 2013 at 1:50 pm |

This just doesn’t fit with today’s social sensibility. It used to be OK to smoke in bars & restuarants and slap your secretary’s ass on the way out the door to a 3 martini lunch. That just doesn’t work today, same way this one doesn’t.

And guns aren’t the same thing as predatory animals at all. For your analogy to work the team name would have to be something like “fighting pit bulls”.

Regarding the “sparkle unicorns” argument, you are completely missing the point. Of course the name or slogan on the pants won’t cause or prevent people perpetrating violence, but it can cause or save a school looking REALLY STUPID when something does happen.

No problems with the “Guns Up” usage. I had no problems with the “Bullets” usage either.

What’s ridiculous is that people don’t have the social sensibility that there are legitimate gun owners out there that are responsible. There are law abiding citizens out there that are gun carrying everyday and you have no idea who they are. One is my wife, who earned her CCW with flying colors. Hopefully she’ll get the qualifications to carry within school doors too — if the school district and state have the laws set up to do such.

Some like to hunt. Some like to shoot. And, most do not harm anyone or anything. Heck, they don’t even talk about it or no one knows they shoot. Instead of running away from the talk, people need to go through the training and education of what to do and what not to do with guns/ammunition. It should be required in school. I said it. I believe it. They don’t get it at home so it needs to be left to educators, unfortunately.

Maybe we’d quit hearing stupid statements like this: “And no references to firearms on the uniforms is always a plus.” Because schools can reference whatever they’d like to on their uniforms that happen to be a reference to their school.

Rob H|
August 5, 2013 at 9:30 am |

Ohhhh.. DeWayne Wise’s play to save Buerhle’s perfect game. When I saw that about “The Catch” in Chicago, the only thing this side of Dwight Clark that I could think of in the Windy City was Steve Bartman. And that wasn’t really a catch.

(Sorry Cubs fans.)

Volfan|
August 5, 2013 at 9:32 am |

The Tennessee uni’s appear to have a number font that matches the power T on the helmet. Looks like the number 7 is a bit rounded like the T is.

Oriole Park has two orange seats – one marking the landing spot of Eddie Murray’s 500th home run and one marking the home run with which Cal Ripken set the career HR record for shortstops.

Eutaw Street – behind the right field flag court – is littered with baseball-shaped plaques noting the date and hitter of every home run that landed on the street. There is also a plaque noting the one home run that directly hit the warehouse – Ken Griffey Jr from the 1993 home run derby.

Tim H|
August 5, 2013 at 1:20 pm |

This is pretty cool. The O’s website has an infograph of all the home runs to land on Eutaw St. Each one has a link to a video of the HR itself.

Regarding the recent trend of “Star Wars Night” at the ballpark … the Cardinals are holding on Wednesday (8/7), which I will be going to with my chidren, not to watch the Cardinals, but for the promotion.

According to a family member that works there, the promotion has pushed tickets MUCH harder than expected. He did give a little interesting insight, that the hosting team pays ahead to Lucas Films for rights to the graphics and audio packages, and gets to use them as they see fit to promote the game.

One nugget I got is that something is planned for Yodi (a Yoda/Yadi hybrid).

they really have a hard time establishing an identity. seems like every other year they switch something up.

really wish they’d drop that red helmet..

Nick|
August 5, 2013 at 11:19 am |

The white helmet has remained the same since ’00. Adding the black trim to the red center stripe this year is the first change. In terms of jersey changes, I don’t think it’s any more than most other schools – just a lesser known identity.

Bernard|
August 5, 2013 at 9:51 am |

Texas Tech is a definite upgrade. I like the Guns Up stripes, and you know a red jersey is coming. Thumbs up.

South Carolina is also an upgrade. Much cleaner.

Tennessee is fine. I actually like ///’s tire tread pattern in some applications, this one included. Visual texture.

I can’t take Nevada seriously because their number font looks like such a Canes ripoff. Why does Nike always make them bite Miami’s style?

The Dolphins’ new aqua really pops in HD. I’ll miss the old logo, but in a lot of ways this feels like an improvement to me. Very South Beach.

terriblehuman|
August 5, 2013 at 12:38 pm |

re: Dolphins

I’m going to echo a lot of the commenters here and say I wish orange were more prominent, but the aqua/white is probably more Miami. Definitely mores than the drop shadow of the last decade-plus, which went against the pastel/Art Deco aesthetics of South Beach.

Now, when will the Cowboys be change their green-ish pants? They were meant to look silver on standard-definition screens, but now look lime green on HD displays?

Lime green? I think you need to check your TV’s settings. The Cowboys do need to standardize their colors, because using 2 different silvers is just silly, but those pants sure as heck aren’t lime green.

Ticker should read, “Check out the Reds number font” on the Potomac Nationals’ Roger Bernadina “Shark-a-rine” giveaway. The P-Nats wear W-Nats-style block numbers, so the Reds font stands out on the back of the Shark-a-rine.

I had a bit of a discussion with a contact at the Washington Post about it, which went basically thus:

Me: Hey, check out the Reds number font on the Shark-a-rine. [Despite Bernadina’s terrible 2013 season, the Shark-a-rine has become a Sharknado-like phenomenon in DC since it was announced over the winter.]

Postie: Maybe the P-Nats wore that style of number when Bernadina played for them in 2006?

Me: No, the Reds debuted that custom font in 2007.

Postie: Then I got nuthin.

On close examination, the numbers even appear to be black, rather than navy blue.

AceFace|
August 5, 2013 at 10:28 am |

“Tigres” uni? Nice one-off. Not a good alt jersey, especially when you consider the jersey it is based on only lasted one season and failed. I’m not in favor of any sort of home throwback for Detroit, although a nice road throwback would be the ’68 grey with the TV number on the sleeve, or the even older 40s-50s style with the Detroit script and the striped stirrups.

DJ|
August 5, 2013 at 10:29 am |

Adidas unveils the uniforms Notre Dame will wear in their “Shamrock Series” game in Dallas against Arizona State:

In the article about the Lakers maybe wearing sleeved jerseys, whoever they are showing (which looks like Greg Oden, but he just signed with The Chosen Ones) in the Summer League pic, looks like he’s wearing number 8.

Well, that explains a lot to me that I’ve been wondering since 2006. I’m still kinda curious as to what the Lakers will end up doing once Kobe Bryant retires: retire number 8, number 24, or maybe both. I think at this point, it’s safe to say he’s accomplished a lot with both numbers. Right now, my bet would be number 8, since he won three NBA Titles with that number (compared to two with 24), and was still wearing 8 when he scored 81 points against the Raptors in one game–although I think that came AFTER he announced he was switching to 24 the following year.

Mainspark|
August 5, 2013 at 10:56 am |

The Cincinnati Reds have a rose garden outside of Great American Ballpark to indicate the area where Pete Rose singled off Eric Show at the old Riverfront Stadium to break Ty Cobb’s record. Of course the Reds are not allowed to have any marker or other designation acknowledging Rose’s feat, per MLB.

CortM|
August 5, 2013 at 10:58 am |

I dearly love that “Tigres” jersey. It’s a thing of beauty.

So is true aquamarine. And Miami is not a place for all capital letters, so if they must put the club name on the jersey, a nice, friendly “Dolphins” is perfect.

The Astrodome has (had? it’s sort of a zombie building right now, not exactly dead, but not living, either) two painted upper deck seats to honor tape measure shots: there was a red rooster on one, celebrating Doug “The Red Rooster” Rader, and a cannon on the other, honoring Jimmy “The Toy Cannon” Wynn.

In Montreal, the Forum has become a sort of mini-mall, with shops and restaurants. A portion of the seating and boards have been retained. Kids with piercings skateboard where Rocket Richard used to skate. It’s depressing as can be.

But not as depressing as knowing that the University of Nevada football team can choose between six uniform combinations this Fall. Heck, nearly everything I know about college football uniforms in 2013 is depressing.

Hey, it could be worse. The Astrodome and the Forum could’ve met the fate of several stadiums and arenas like Mile High Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Comiskey Park, Civic Arena, Shea Stadium, etc…and largely become parking lots. (Three Rivers not so much now, as some redevelopment has happened. But its still largely a parking lot.) Then there’s Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, which stood standing for 13 years after the Sabres moved out and was torn down to make way for a Bass Pro Shops that never opened there–they abandoned the site after the Aud was torn down. I see that, eventually, being the future site of a Walmart.

CortM|
August 5, 2013 at 12:21 pm |

I grew up in Buffalo. They set up a webcam, to chronicle the Aud’s demolition.

Tropicana Field has a sign for Longoria’s wildcard-winning 2011 home run. They have labelled the spot “162 Landing.”

Kevin K|
August 5, 2013 at 11:25 am |

The Rays have a few spots commemorating big moments in Tropicana. They have the spot painted where Longorias ball landed in “Game 162″ They have Wade Boggs 3000th hit designated,and also they have a single seat painted white where Dan Johnsons HR landed to beat Red Sox in 2008

Tris Wykes|
August 5, 2013 at 12:06 pm |

I dislike the Dolphins new unis. Such a longstanding franchise with such tradition and now they look like beachside cocktail waitresses. Not enough orange. New dolphin logo looks like a whale. Bring back the old unis.

One game special uniform for Iowa State in their upcoming game against Iowa. A tip of the cap, so to speak, to history.

cyclones.com

CortM|
August 5, 2013 at 12:43 pm |

Why does nearly every team in every major sport now feature multiple uniform sets?

Is it an effort to hide design weaknesses in sheer volume? Is it that the public, attention-poor and primed for input, demands it? Is it simply a means of generating additional revenue streams (this seems improbable in most cases: how much of a market is there for Nevada Wolfpack gear?)?

Why? It makes no sense to me.

Dom.E.|
August 5, 2013 at 1:17 pm |

What I like about the Tigers is that they have the classic Old-English D adorned home whites. What I dislike is the Everybody Does The Script Thing “Detroit” road jerseys. The only change I’d like to see is that they bring back the block font “DETROIT” on the current road jersey.

The “Tigres” jerseys looked clean and classic, but I’m hoping this is a one-off thing like that navy blue thing back in ’95. I don’t think that the Tigers have a need for an alternate jersey.

BrianC|
August 5, 2013 at 5:13 pm |

Most teams don’t (The Cardinals being an exception. Those are nice!). It’s just a marketing scheme to sell more merchandise.

Tim H|
August 5, 2013 at 1:28 pm |

Obviously GM hasn’t learned anything. Remember how great the logo change worked for Oldsmobile.

Mirliton|
August 5, 2013 at 1:33 pm |

Did anyone else get bothered by Philbin’s polo not matching with the rest of Miami’s staff and players ?

JimWa|
August 5, 2013 at 1:54 pm |

My question on the Guns Up uniform is this: should there be yet another tragic school shooting take place during the football season, what does the team do once it’s been determined that the uniforms are in poor taste in inappropriate to wear in light of the current situation?

I’m sure Texas Tech is the one who did the school shooting. Good call.

Since there are no more “Bullets,” the violence in America is all better.

arrScott|
August 5, 2013 at 4:58 pm |

In actual fact, violent crime in America is down 26.4% in absolute numbers and down 36.8% on a per-capita basis since the Bullets became the Wizards. Data: http://www.disasterc...

terriblehuman|
August 6, 2013 at 9:52 am |

DC in particular has seen its murder rate drop to the point that it’s not the Murder Capital of America any more – 2012 had the lowest number of murders per capita since 1963. And it’s not just rich people pushing crime out to the suburbs – even PG County saw a marked drop in violent crime.

Now, this could be more effective policing. It could be heroin replacing crack as the opiate of choice. But it could be the Bullets renaming to the Wizards. Who’s to say?

I’ve just sifted through the comments, and since nobody seems to care (which doesn’t surprise me) I’d like to comment on Nevada’s new unis. They call the gray “silver” locally. Why not go with a metallic look for the pants? Why not have a metallic silver helmet? I’ve lived in Reno for thirty-five years, and if there is one thing we do well, it is to do everything half-assed. It looks like it took five minutes to come up with these combos. Just pathetic.

Gill|
August 5, 2013 at 5:21 pm |

New Miami uniforms look surprisingly good under game conditions, but I think 3 changes would make them really nice:

1. Put the “M” helmet back onto the dolphin as an ode to its uni history (and a very cool quirk to its iconic helmets).

2. Used just a single orange stripe down the middle of the helmet (similar width to the Raiders single black helmet stripe).

3. Added a single orange stripe down the pant legs (again, similar to the Raider’s single black leg stripe)to balance out the helmet stripe.

taxman|
August 5, 2013 at 7:41 pm |

Dolphins need more Orange. Jeff Ogden was a punt returner one year for Ravens. Probably late with that one.

Rydell|
August 5, 2013 at 7:55 pm |

Oh America..
let’s tame gun use all we can and while we are at it eliminate the name Redskins, Indians and Braves.. but to allow a college football team to display GUNS UP!!…ridiculous and embarrassing.
People are confused.

Ryan Ford|
August 6, 2013 at 11:26 pm |

The really surprising thing about the “Tigres” jersey is that they were on sale in the team store 4 days before their lone wearing — with about 8 players, both Latino and not, represented (though without the numbers on the front). They’ve never sold replica “Detroit Stars” (Negro Leagues), only game-worn. They started selling 1979-84 road throwback pullover replicas late last season but with only 3 players featured.